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2002 e46 320Ci - fog light illuminates when pressing brake pedal

5K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  d9n_dk 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hi all im new to this forum and hoping someone can shed some advice on a problem i have on my e46 320ci coupe.
Yesterday the both rear light warning lamps illuminated on my dash. I thought this would be just a blown bulb so had a friend check my tail lights while i pressed the brake pedal. All four brake lights are working fine and the one in rear window, but the fog light in the bootlid is illuminating too, which must be whats causing the brake light fault in dash. I have read the common earth problems on here and have removed both rear light clusters and checked the pins inside the black connectors but there is no burnt out pins or any corrosion. The only thing i have noticed is that the brown earth wire going into the plug feels quite hard, so wonder whether this may actually be the prob? Also i have changed all 4 brake light bulbs this morning, which has made no difference at all.
Im thinking of trying to cut the brown earth wire back and doing the earth mod shown on here.
has anyone had this prob with the fog light coming on with the brake lights before?
Also the fog light works perfectly on its own with the switch on the dash, which is why im thinking that it could well be the brown earth wire to the rear cluster causing this to short circuit a nd light the fog light.
Can anyone tell me exactly where i need to fix the earth wire to on my rear cluster board as the pics on here look a different cluster to mine, it has a six pin single line rather than an 8pin double line connector, a pic would be a great help!

Thanks in advance for any info, any advice would be very much apprreciated!
 
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#2 ·
to me mate it sounds like you have a earth trouble somewhere if it was me i would check the earth first by stripping back the earth wire (in your case brown i think :shifty:) attach a bit of wire to it and the other end of that wire put it on a metal spot that is in contact with the body (only do this if you know the brown cable is earth)i.e a boot catch and then while holding it get a mate to press the brake to see if this helps it if so then yes you have an earth problem and you can go from there :thumbsup
 
#5 ·
I have now checked the boot hinge wire and it looks fine, have also stripped the brown wire to the rear clusters and tried the new earth, and still have the fog light illuminating with the brake lights! Any ideas where to look next on this guys? ive taken the fog light bulb out for now and only have the rear offside warning light on the dash(fog light side) showing, whereas the both rear light warning lights were showing before. Im stumped:confused
 
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